Spring bed-bottom



(No Model.)

a w. STOFPEL.

SPRING BED BOTTOM.

No. 575,861. Patented Jan, 26, 1897-.

EEicE.

PATENT IVILLIAM STOFFEL, OF ELGIN, ILLINOIS.

SPRING BED-BOTTOM.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 575,861, dated January 26, 1897.

Application filed April 13,1896. Serial No. 587,390. (No model.)

'To all whom it 122,10 concern..-

Be it known that I, WILLIAMSTOFEEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elgin, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring Bed-Bottoms, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification. I

My invention relates more particularly to that class of spring bed-bottoms in which the upper part or portion upon which the mattress rests is an integral frame as contradistinguished from a flexible frame or surface composed of a number of independently-depressible portions; and it has for its primary object to provide means for varying the spring-tension on opposite sides of the bed, whereby the supporting power of the bed-bottom may be varied independently on opposite sides according to the Weights of the occupants of the respective sides and thus avoid the objection of a heavy person depressing the bed-bottom on one side more than it is depressed on the other by the lighter person and thereby inclining the bed to an objectionable extent.

More specifically stated, the object of my invention is to support the opposite sides of the bed-bottom by independently-adjustable leverage mechanism having in its medium a spring.

With these ends in view my invention consists in certain features of novelty in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts by which the said objects and certain other objects hereinafter appearing are attained, all as fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the said drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a bed-bottom constructed according to my improvements. Fig. 2 is a bottom view thereof; and Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 3 3, Fig. 1.

1 represents the bottom or rigid frame, which rests upon the bedstead in the usual manner, and 2 is the slat-frame or spring-bottom upon which the mattress rests. This slat-frame 2 is supported by a pair of transverse bars 3 4,

' which are arranged a sufficient distance apart from the mid-length of the bed-botto [[1 to support the latter and prevent its ends from tipping without overcoming the torsion of the springs. Each of these bars 3 4 is supported at each end upon the long arm 5 of a lever pivoted at 6 to the rigid frame 1 or to a block 7, secured to the inner side of such frame, the under side of the bars 3 4 being notched, as shown at 8, for the reception of the arm 5. The short arms 9 of each of these levers is yieldingly held against movement by some suitable spring or cushion, whereby the slatted bottom or frame 2 is yieldingly supported in such a manner that each corner may be independently depressed. This is accomplished, however, preferably by connecting the short arms 9 of the levers on the same side together by means of a spring stretched between them, so that the same spring Will serve for keeping the long arms 5 of both levers on the same side elevated, and this spring is preferably provided Withmeans whereby its tension may be Varied independently of the tension of the spring on the opposite side of the bed. The spring is shown at 10 and consists of an ordinary coil-spring connected at one end to one arm 9 by a link or rod 11 and at its other end to the other arm 9 by means of a turnbuckle 12, theapproaching movement of the arms 9 being limited in any suitable manner, as by means of stops or pins 13, secured in the blocks '7. By this means it will be seen that the slatted bottom 2 is yieldingly supported at the proper elevation above the rigid frame 1, and that the tension of its spring-resistance may be independently varied on opposite sides by manipulating the turnbuckles 12 in the proper direction; but a more convenient and effective manner of thus varying the springresistance on opposite sides is to alter the position or bearing-point of the cross-bars 3 upon the lever-arms 5, it being understood that the farther the cross-bars 3 4 are from the pivotal point of the lever the less the resistance of the springs 10. Thus if the crossbars 3 4 atone end or on one side of the bed are arranged closer together than on the other side, as shown at Fig. 2, the side on which they are nearest will offer less resistance to the Weight of the occupant, and hence by the proper adjustment of these cross-bars 3 4 the tension on the opposite sides of the bed-bottom may be regulated to such a nicety as to enable a very light person to depress one side of the bed as far as the other side is depressed IOO by a much heavier person, and in this way maintain the bed in a level position.

In order that the bars 3 4 may be prevented from losing their adjustment, I provide the side rails of the slat-frame 2 with a number of notches 14:, which may be formed in a separate piece, if desired, and secured to the under side of the side rail of the frame 2 and into which the ends of the bars 3 4 engage, the notches and ends of the bars 3 4: being V-shaped or of an equivalent form, so that the bars may be arranged diagonally and yet fit into the notches.

The slat frame or bottom 2 may be prevented from displacement or from undue upward movement by any suitable means, such as a number of flexible straps 15, secured thereto and to the frame 1.

l are the feet or legs for supporting the device in the event it should be used on the floor without a bedstead.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A bed-bottom having in combination a frame for supporting the mattress, springactuated levers for supporting the opposite sides of said frame, and means for adjusting the point of support of said frame upon said levers, substantially as set forth.

2. A bed-bottom having in combination a frame for supporting the mattress, springactuated levers at opposite sides of said frame, and adjustable supports arranged on said levers and supporting said frame, substantially as set forth.

3. A bed-bottom having in combination a frame for supporting the mattress, springactuated levers having horizontal arms arranged under said frame, and adjustable bars resting upon said arms and supporting said frame, substantially as set forth.

4. A bed-bottom having in combination a frame for supporting the mattress, a pair of levers at each side of said frame and upon which said frame is supported, an elastic connection between said levers, and means for varying the tension of said elastic connection, substantially as set forth.

5. A bed-bottom having in combination a frame for supporting the mattress, springactuated levers, adjustable bars projecting across and under said frame and resting upon said levers, and notches carried by said frame for holding said bars in place, substantially as set forth.

6. A bed-bottom having in combination a frame for supporting the mattress, bell-crank levers secured under said frame each with one arm horizontal, transverse bars arranged under said frame and being adjustably supported upon said horizontal arms and an elastic connection between the vertical arms of said levers, substantially as set forth.

7. A bed-bottom having in combination a frame for supporting the mattress, the rigid frame 1, bell-crank levers pivoted to said frame and each having one arm horizontal, adjustable bars resting upon said horizontal arms and supporting said frame, an elastic connection between the vertical arms of said levers, and means for limiting the upward movement of said horizontal arms, substantially as set forth.

\VILLIAM STOFFEL.

Vitnesses C. H. MoKINNoN, A. M. WHITE. 

